The Legal Aid Era

My nervous breakdown did wondrous things for my psyche, and I am pleased to announce that I am entering into the early stages of my boss bitch arc. Since we last spoke, I have gotten a job, moved cities, and made a new lifelong friend (who is cooking me a new friend as we speak, love you bb bean!). Every day I can feel myself becoming more and more awake, shedding the autopilot I have relied upon for so many years. I have a beautiful apartment with cheap rent, and a job that has taught me much about society and about how we treat each other.

I work at a nonprofit charged with facilitating pro bono work for attorneys. It is a statewide organization, but I work in the North Central region as a legal navigator. It is my job to identify low-income people who are facing issues with housing stability and connect them with free legal resources, whether that is general information, a brief legal advice clinic, or a volunteer attorney. Every day, I hear the stories of families being evicted from their homes, and every damn day I see the ways the legal system intentionally overlooks them entirely.

The mission of my organization is “expand access to justice” for Hoosiers, and I don’t agree that we are anywhere near accomplishing that. I will write more about the “Legal Aid Ecosystem” in Indiana later, but for now just know that it is not a system that is in any way set up to help people in need. It is chaotic, disjointed, under-resourced, and unnecessarily complex. AND THAT IS JUST THE PROCESS TO FIND HELP. The actual legal/court system is worse, as it is the product of generations of lawyers trying to maintain their profession that dates before the creation of the legal aid system.

I am not explaining anything new. Anyone with a brain and an ounce of common sense can see that our systems ooze discrimination and have been built up to provide safety for rich at the expense of the poor. It took me several months to fully understand the resource landscape I needed to be effective in my job, even with a pretty lengthy background in support systems and legalese. To someone struggling to pay their rent, juggling children and work and who knows what else, it is nearly impossible. If they are able to find the resource they need, the waitlists are long and the language is confusing and unclear.

Since I started in December, I have spoken to hundreds people. I have spoken with people who are experiencing domestic violence, couch surfing, living in cars, living on the street, living in apartments with no floors/heat/water, and on and on and on. I have had to accept that my desire to prevent people from being evicted was a fever dream at best. All I can do for them is to let them tell their stories and be honest. Every day I tell people they aren’t going to be able to stay in their home; and then we regroup and work to try to mitigate the damage, which ripples into every single aspect of their life. It is heartbreaking, and is happening to thousands* of people in America every day. (*A rough estimate, since eviction data is notoriously hard to gather for many reasons, the main one being that historically no one has cared enough, but more on that later).

This post took a gloomier turn than I thought it would (my b) but it is important for everyone to understand. It is a devastating reality, and if you take nothing else away from this post, please hear this: housing is a fucking human right. If you disagree, let’s talk about it. Don’t understand what that means? Don’t understand what holding that belief means with real world applications? LETS TALK ABOUT IT.

I’ll leave you on a positive note, though (you’re welcome). Since starting this work in a dysfunctional nonprofit with no direction or vision, my imposter syndrome has pretty much completely evaporated. I now firmly believe that I have something to offering any situation or conversation, and I am no longer willing to stay quiet to make others comfortable. I have the confidence to be contrarian always and the conviction of compassion and experience. I am a powerful advocate for what I think is right, and I am ready for whatever my Legal Aid Era throws my way.